


Together

by chartreuseblueandyellow



Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-16 03:48:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29818983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chartreuseblueandyellow/pseuds/chartreuseblueandyellow
Summary: “What are you doing?!”In a voice far too calm and casual considering the circumstances, she moved closer while ignoring his protests."Well I'm not gonna let you blow up alone now am I?"
Relationships: Riley Davis/Angus MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016)
Comments: 26
Kudos: 87





	Together

**Author's Note:**

> I started this WIP _ages_ ago and recently decided to randomly come back to it. Given that so much has happened since I started this, I decided to edit it so it fits into Season 5 (but before the Codex rebirth stuff).   
> Let me know what you guys think, enjoy :)
> 
> P.S. I don’t know how a bomb works, so this is probably very incorrect, but just go with me here.

Mac slowly regained consciousness, the sounds of the world fading back in.  
They’d been on the hunt for a man named Rolland Aplyate who had been planting explosions in various data storage facilities, but at the moment they weren’t too sure what his end goal was. They’d followed his location to a huge abandoned factory complex, and when they’d split up to look for him, Mac had spotted him, but when he’d turned the corner in pursuit, he remembered getting knocked out and then… nothing. 

Mac groaned at the pounding in his head as he slowly took in his surroundings. He was in a random courtyard within the location, buildings tall on all sides of him.   
It suddenly hit him that it felt like he was wearing more clothes and he looked down and froze in absolute horror.   
Rolland had apparently slipped a life vest shaped thing onto him while he was unconscious and attached to the front were two horizontal packs of C4, each had two wires attached on either end, making eight wires in total.   
Mac felt his breath quickening and his hands began to shake, but as a voice in his head told him to control his breathing and calm down (a voice which sounded remarkably like Alfred Pena’s), Mac took a few deep breaths then followed the wires with his eyes as they ran along his sides under his arms, encasing him in the vest, where they presumably connected to the small box he felt on his back. 

Needing to get a better look at it, Mac stood up on slightly shaking legs, forcing himself to ignore the part of his mind that was starting to panic, focusing instead on the part that had started spouting everything he’d learned through EOD training.   
The first thing he needed to do was actually _look_ at the control box, and maneuvering himself awkwardly until he could see his back in the reflection of a window, he saw red neon numbers, currently at 10 minutes and 30 seconds, but counting down steadily, probably set that high to give Rolland time to get away.   
Mac had _definitely_ been in too many life and death situations because the first thing he felt was relief.   
He had come to view anything more than five minutes to “save the world” as a lot of time, but quickly reeling himself back in from his relief, he realised that even the luxury of 10 minutes might not help him this time.   
With the control box on his back, there was no way he could assess and disarm the bomb himself.  
This wasn't good.

“Mac!”

He flinched at the yell in his ear, and it took him a moment to realise it was his comms.   
“I’m here.”

“What happened? Are you okay?”  
Still in shock about his situation, Mac didn’t really know who had asked but he replied, “Rolland knocked me out. He's gotten away and I'm here in the courtyard area, but -”

“We’re coming to you.”  
His protest died as Riley, Desi, Bozer, and Russ suddenly appeared from around the corner, and as they saw what he was wearing, their eyes widened and they started running faster. 

“No! Don’t come any closer!”  
They all automatically froze at the desperate plea in his voice and Mac was glad. He needed to figure a way to disarm this, but he honestly wasn’t sure he’d be able to do it in time so he needed them to stay back, to stay safe.   
He knew that they'd never listen if he explained his reasoning, so while yelling so that they'd hear him, he instead said, "there’s around 10 minutes on the timer and I need space to think, I can’t have you all crowding me. Besides, someone needs to go after Rolland.”

None of them moved, and when they only looked at him incredulously, Mac sighed and looked at the one person he knew he could convince to leave.   
Fixing his eyes on Russ, he said, “we can’t have Rolland running around loose, someone needs to go get him.”

After a pause, Russ nodded, saying, “I’ll get right on it.”   
Mac sighed in relief and was about to try to convince the rest when Russ added, “Oh, and Macgyver?”

“Yeah?” 

“Try and get out of this alive will you?”

Mac couldn’t help but chuckle slightly.  
“That’s the plan.”  
Russ nodded, and after sparing him one more glance, took off in search for Rolland. 

Happy that at least _one_ person was gone out of harm's way, he looked at the rest of them as sternly as he could manage.  
“Remember, stay back. I need space to think.”

Desi and Bozer reluctantly nodded and the latter said, “we won’t come any closer but we’re staying right here.”

They would still be injured if the bomb went off but they were far enough for it not to be fatal. Mac knew that was the best he was going to get so he nodded, but his next sentence was cut off by Riley shaking her head and walking closer.  
Slight panic hit him.   
“What are you doing?!”

In a voice far too calm and casual considering the circumstances, she moved closer while ignoring his protests.   
"Well I'm not gonna let you blow up alone now am I?"

Sudden hope and affection filled him, because even though she couldn’t have known, her words mirrored the ones Jack had said ages ago, “ _if you go kaboom, I go kaboom_ ,” but that hadn’t exactly worked out had it? More dread filled him at the thought, and even though her tone was even and calm, it did nothing to keep his fear down.  
Though he had told everyone he'd figure out some solution, he could never lie to her, and speaking at a normal volume so only she heard, he admitted, "I don't know if I can stop this Riles. I can’t take anyone along with me if I can’t figure it out." 

Reaching him, her face softened.  
“I get that Mac, but you know me the best, so surely you know that there’s no chance in hell that I’m going to let you deal with this alone. Besides, what would you do if the roles were reversed?”  
He sighed, knowing it was true, and seeing that, she continued.  
“Surely, after the Codex incident, you can take a hint that I’m never letting you run into danger alone?”  
That brought a reluctant smile to his face, and seeing it, she smiled too. 

Mac really didn’t want there to be a chance that she’d get hurt as well but he knew, without a doubt, that she would not let him do this alone. She had proven it countless times before.  
“Okay then. How do we get rid of this sucker?”  
Riley’s face set into grim determination at his question. 

He hadn’t been able to get a good look at the bomb in the reflection, so he asked Riley to describe in detail what she saw, and the more she did that, the more dread grew in him.   
This type of bomb would be hard for him, a trained EOD expert, so he knew it’d be a _lot_ for Riley to do.  
“I can’t lie, it’ll be really hard to disarm, and I’m not confident it can get done in time, but I can still try and talk you through it.”

Riley gave a nervous chuckle.   
“Let’s try and avoid that plan then shall we?”

Mac couldn’t help but smile and say, “then we need to think of something else.”

Riley concentrated as she studied the vest and he did too. After a few moments she said, “if somehow we can take it off of you, we won’t have to worry about disarming it, just getting it to somewhere where it can explode safely,” he nodded, and with a small humourless chuckle, she added, “though given our time constraint, _safely_ probably means stuff it in that dumpster over there -” she nodded her head towards one on the side of the building, “- and run like hell.”

Make couldn't help but laugh, though making sure not to move too much.  
“Okay, so we know how to _dispose_ of it, now the only question is how do we get it off?”

They both studied it again and a second later Riley said, “I don’t know how to use this to our advantage, but the weakest bit of this vest seems to be that the connecting wires are exposed on the sides.”  
Mac nodded, he’d been about to say the same thing, and looking around, a sudden idea came to mind. Riley laughed.  
“I know that look, Mac. What’s the plan?”

He huffed in amusement, she really knew him well, and said, “Rolland must’ve put this together quickly, the terminals which connect the C4 to the wire is sticking out a fair bit, and the way you’ve described it, the same thing is happening at the back with the control box and wires -” Riley nodded, “- so to get this off, we need to make the wires longer so I can actually pull it off without accidentally pulling one loose.”  
Riley nodded, and glad to see she was with him, he continued.  
“There’s a large coil of wire there -” he nodded towards it sitting against the building and she followed his eyes, “- so if we cut large lengths of wire and wrap them around the terminals so that the current keeps flowing, we can cut the smaller wire, and if we do that with all eight of them, I should be able to get this vest off easily.”

Riley nodded, determined to get them out of this, but he could see the uncertainty in her eyes that she was trying to hide.  
Giving her a small apologetic smile, he said, “it’s either this or you trying to disarm the bomb.”

Riley sighed.  
“I know, I know,” and as she stood up, she added, “I’ll be right back.”  
He sat back down, knowing it’d be easier to work that way, as she ran to get the large coil, and after picking up something else from the ground, she awkwardly ran back as fast as she could, the coil in one arm.  
She put it down in front of him, as well as what looked to be random rubber tubing of some kind, and seeing his confused gaze on it, she said, “I think I should probably use this when cutting wires that have current flowing through them.”

Mac hadn’t even _considered_ that, what would’ve happened if she hadn’t thought of that and tried cutting the wire? But seeing the slightly distraught look on his face, Riley said, “given that there’s a bomb currently strapped to you, you should give yourself some slack.”

He reluctantly nodded as he slowly reached into his back pocket, but his heart dropped when he felt it was empty.  
“Rolland must’ve taken my swiss army knife,” and the dread starting to overwhelm him, he added quietly, “he really didn’t want to give me any chance of getting out of here alive.”

Riley chuckled, shocking him out of his mood, and as she took a swiss army knife out of her own pocket, she said, “well he didn’t take me into account then did he?”

A sudden and unexpected rush of pride and warmth filled him and he couldn’t help his large, genuine smile.   
“No he didn’t,” and when she smiled back just as warmly, he asked, “how did I not know you had one?”

Shrugging as she unravelled the wire, she said, “I thought it was high time I got one, but haven’t had much use of it till now I guess.”  
Mac was surprised at how much he loved the fact that Riley got her own swiss army knife because he had and used one, but focused on the task at hand unlike him, she said, “okay, we have -” she checked his back, “- seven and a half minutes to get this off of you and into the dumpster.”

Mac nodded, and with the small scissors on her knife, Riley cut a long strip of wire and took a deep breath as she looked at the terminal she had to attach it to. With his opposite hand, Mac reached out and gently put a hand on hers, and as her eyes, full of uncertainty and fear, met his, he gave her a small smile.  
“I trust you Riles.”

Some of the uncertainty faded away, and letting out a deep breath she said, “okay,” and nodding as she turned to look back at his vest, she repeated, “okay.”  
He let go of her hand and she started wrapping one end of the wire around the terminal on the C4, pressing it flat with the pliers to secure it. After repeating the same on his back, she put the rubber tube over the knife and pulled out the scissors.   
Riley let out a shaky breath, and as he reached out for her hand again, he found that she was reaching out for him.   
They held onto each other tightly, no words needing to be said, and after squeezing her hand, they let go. Taking a deep breath, she muttered, “here goes nothing,” and cut the original wire. 

Nothing happened.

Relief swept through him and he looked at Riley with a large smile, but she only let out a shaky breath.  
“Glad we're not dead, now there's only seven more left.”

“There’s no one else I’d trust to get me out of this than you,” Mac immediately replied, because it was true. Riley really was the only person who he both trusted implicitly, and who he knew had the skills to help him out.   
And though Riley didn’t seem too sure about her own skills, Mac wouldn’t have had anyone else here with him.

Giving a nervous and slightly breathless chuckle, Riley said, “I have no idea how you used to do this countless times _every day_ for a living.”  
Knowing that she needed to not get too much in her head, Mac chuckled and said, "well, you know what they say about being an EOD. Either you're right, or suddenly it's not your problem anymore."

Riley slowly turned to stare at him, incredulous, and when he only chuckled, she said, "well… I guess that's the optimistic view on blowing up," he chuckled again, and shaking her head as she turned back to the vest, she mumbled, "and on _that_ happy note, let’s go to wire two.”

She’d just started wrapping the cut wire on the terminal when Matty’s voice came over their comms.  
“What’s the progress with the bomb removal?”

Anyone else may not have realised it, but at hearing their boss’ voice, the tiniest hint of a frown came across Riley’s face. He knew it was because it was reminding her of the situation that they were in and was putting extra pressure on her. He knew Riley and knew that that would only make it harder for her to concentrate.   
Knowing that Bozer and Desi could keep Matty informed, he turned off his comm, then reached up and turned Riley’s off too.   
She looked at him with an eyebrow raised and he just shrugged.  
“The bomb is an immediate threat. Ignoring Matty, which, admittedly, can be just as explosive, is one we can deal with later."  
Riley gave a small smile at that and he did too, happy to get the response he’d aimed for. 

They lapsed into silence after that, but a few seconds in, Riley spoke, her voice slightly tense even though she calmly kept working.  
“I need you to talk, Mac. I can’t do this in silence.”

He nodded, understanding completely, and knowing she needed something light-hearted, he asked, “have I told you about the first week that Bozer and I started living together?”  
Turning to look at him with soft amusement in her eyes, she shook her head, and he laughed.  
“It was _chaotic_.” 

Riley chuckled lightly as she pressed the wires into place.  
“Given what quarantine was like with the three of us, I have no trouble believing that.”  
Mac saw her body relax slightly as she continued to work and so he continued with his story, describing in detail all the situations they’d gotten themselves into.  
Riley had found a steady rhythm as she listened to his story, and she even laughed and commented on it as she worked.   
Mac was absolutely amazed by her.  
In this dire situation where she was the only one who could get them out of it, Riley’s tone was calm, and that and just her general calming presence calmed him in return.   
Though that wasn’t exactly a surprise.   
There had been many situations in the past where she’d been the only one to steady his mind and keep him centered, and like all those times, if she hadn’t been here now, Mac knew that there was no way he’d be as calm as he currently was. 

As Riley was working away on the third wire and he was halfway through telling her about one of his early cooking fails, a lock of her hair fell in her face.  
She scrunched up her forehead, trying to move it out of her eyes while her hands were busy, so Mac reached up with his free hand and gently tucked it behind her hair while continuing with his story.   
Riley turned her head and, locking eyes with him, ones which were filled with gratitude, softness and a hint of something deeper, she whispered, “thanks.”

Even in their current circumstance, Mac couldn't help his soft and very real smile, and he whispered back, "of course."   
She looked at him for a moment longer before turning back to the wire.

If there wasn't the very real and imminent threat of them exploding to death right now, Mac might've called what had just happened a _moment_ , just like the one in the kitchen.   
That had _constantly_ been in the back of his mind since it happened, but he pushed it back because it was of no help right now.  
Instead, Mac cleared his throat, and done with the first story, started talking about his and Bozer's high school days. While demolishing the football stadium with a small nuclear meltdown was by _far_ the worst incident, it certainly wasn't the only one, and by the time he was done with his story about how he melted a hole into one of his science tables, Riley was done with the wires on his right side and was ready to move to the left. 

She got up from her crouched position and moved to the other side and Mac suddenly remembered that Bozer and Desi were waiting on them. He’d been so wrapped up in this cocoon of him, Riley and the bomb, that it had slipped his mind, but looking up at them now, Desi nodded at him, letting him know that he had this, while Bozer gave him an overly enthusiastic thumbs up, probably to make sure that Mac’s mood stayed up and hopeful. 

Mac smiled as reassuringly as he could when a few bomb squad members suddenly ran around the corner and panic filled him, because as much as he'd love for them to come and deal with the bomb, he knew that they wouldn't be able to disarm it in time. Besides, though their current plan was slightly unorthodox, then again when were his plans not, Mac knew that Riley had this handled and the bomb squad coming in would interrupt that.

Mac was getting ready to call out to them, when he saw Bozer stop them from coming any closer while saying something, and Mac couldn't help his smile and the warm feeling in his chest.   
He knew that Bozer was _not_ happy about being forced to stay back, especially when his two best friends were in danger, but Bozer also knew when Mac actually needed them to stay back, and so he did, and made sure others did too.

Eyes still on what she was doing, Riley said, “bomb squad is here."

He was slightly surprised she realised, but all he said was, "what we're doing is going to work, and they'll just get in the way of that. Besides, I don't think they have enough time to disarm this."

Riley ducked her head back to check on the timer, and chuckling humorlessly as she turned back to the wires, she said, “well, if you couldn’t have done it ten minutes, I don’t think they’ll be able to do it in three.”  
Sudden panic slammed into him again. Things were down to the wire, and while he had no choice but to ride this out no matter how it turned out, Riley didn’t have to do that. Mac felt conflicted because, while he wanted Riley to stay with him, he also wanted her to selfishly choose to leave him here and save herself, even though he knew she would _never_ do that. 

As if sensing his mental state, while working away at the wires, Riley quietly said, “we’re going to get through this, me and you.”

Mac nodded, but trying to distract himself from letting the overwhelming feeling of fear get to him, he focused on Riley's hands and, surprised to see that they were shaking slightly, he blurted out, "your hands are shaking."

Sarcasm clear in her voice, she replied, "wow, great observation skills, genius."

"But you're so calm?"

Her eyes and concentration still on the wires, she replied without looking at him.  
"You're in a serious life and death situation right now Mac, of course I'm a bit scared."

He huffed out a laugh, careful not to move too much.  
“But I’m always in a life and death situation.”

“And who said I don't feel scared every single time?”

He froze as a flood of emotions rushed through him. Her tone was serious, but not quite sure how to deal with everything he was feeling, he instead softly said, “but we always get out of these situations.”

"Until we don't."  
Her reply was sharp and came immediately, and Mac knew without a doubt that she was talking about Jack. 

Needing to reassure her, Mac started saying, “Jack was alone,” but his heart clenched as he said those words. He felt so _guilty_ about that fact, even though he couldn’t have done anything about it. Jack hadn’t wanted them there in the middle of danger, but countless times, Mac couldn’t stop the thoughts in his head asking what if he’d been there for Jack, would he still be alive today?  
Trying to clear that from his mind, Mac continued.  
“He was alone, but we’re not, okay?” and as she locked eyes with him, he stressed, “me and you, we’ve always got each other’s back.”

Not taking her eyes off of him, she slowly nodded, then turned back to the vest as she cut the last wire.  
“Speaking of each other's backs, let's get this off of yours.”

Mac nodded and wriggled around slightly in the vest, testing out the space. The wires that Riley had cut had made it big enough that the both of them could comfortably fit into it. Looking back up at Riley, he said, “okay.”  
She nodded and helped him slowly lift the vest over his head, Mac making sure to carefully bring his arms in so he didn’t accidentally pull off any of the wires.   
They managed to get it off without incident, but before he could breathe a sigh of relief, Riley checked the timer and said, “52 seconds left.”

They sprinted towards the dumpster, Mac falling behind because of his slightly shaking legs. As he caught up, Riley was gently lowering the vest into the half full dumpster, and seeing a pile of cardboard boxes, Mac grabbed as many as he could and laid them on top in an effort to soften the blow. 

He turned around to see that everyone was starting to come closer, but he waved them back as Riley closed the lid and yelled, “it’s under a minute, go back, we’re coming!”  
They nodded as they retreated further back and he and Riley started running. Given that his legs still weren’t back to normal, he was starting to fall behind again, but Riley reached back to grab his hand, trying to pull him along, and holding on tightly, they continued to run.   
Everyone was far back enough that the explosion wouldn’t have much of an impact on them and he and Riley were about to reach that distance when a sudden _BANG!_ filled the air and the resulting shockwave caused him and Riley to drop onto the hard concrete. Mac instinctively put an arm around Riley, and as she tucked her head in against him, he did the same against her.   
They stayed huddled as the shockwaves continued to rack them, and Mac winced as small shards of metal hit his arm and back, and he felt Riley do the same. 

It only lasted a few more moments though, and soon enough, a blessed silence filled the space.   
Mac helped a shaky Riley to her feet, he felt the same, and as soon as they were standing they immediately pulled each other in for a hug, cheering with huge grins on their faces.  
His heart beating in exhilaration, he could feel Riley’s doing the same, they rocked in the spot while holding each other close, and enveloped by her warmth, Mac remembered how they’d reacted the same way after the Germany mission.  
With his face pressed against the top of her head and arms holding her close, he said, “I’m glad that I’m never alone.”

From where her face was, buried in the nook of his neck, he felt her smile, and after a few more seconds, she gave him one last squeeze before starting to move away from him, sliding her hands back.  
Not being able to help himself, instead of letting her arms drop back to her side, he slid his hands down them to hold her hands, and instead of looking at him with surprise and slight nervousness like she had last time, she reluctantly chuckled while shaking her head, getting the reference.   
Mac beamed back at her. 

Seeing Bozer running towards them, he squeezed her hands then let go, only to be immediately pulled into a bone crushing hug by Bozer.  
“Don’t you dare do that again to me man.”

Chuckling slightly as he tightly hugged him back, Mac replied, “have a criminal strap me into a bomb vest? Yeah, I’d prefer if that didn’t happen again.”

Letting go of each other, Bozer looked at him with sincere affection in his eyes, and tone turning serious, he said, “I’m really glad you’re okay Mac.”

Mac nodded, squeezing Bozer’s arm in reply, and his genuine smile turning into a frown as he turned to Riley, Bozer put his hands on his hips as said to her, "and what did you think you were doing Ms Davis, running straight to a bomb? If you're in such need for an adrenaline rush, go swim with sharks or something, like a normal human."

Riley rolled her eyes as she pulled Bozer in for a hug, but though she was acting casually, Mac could see that she was holding on to him tighter than usual, and Bozer hugged her back just as fiercely.  
When she let go a few moments later, she said, “what, you think I'm gonna leave helpless little Mac to deal with a bomb by himself?"

Mac feigned outrage, but not finding it funny like Riley was, Bozer turned to glare at the both of them.  
“The two of you are going to give me a heart attack with how many life or death situations y’all get yourselves into.” 

Warmth filled Mac, Bozer was truly the best friend anyone could ask for, and he and Riley grinned at each other before moving to Bozer, the both of them putting an arm around him from either side.  
Warmth lighting up her eyes, Riley said, “we love you too momma bear.”

Laughing, because that title was surprisingly perfect, Mac added, “we appreciate you worrying about us _momma bear_.” 

Bozer huffed in annoyance, but Mac could tell he was pleased, even as he mumbled, “considering I feed the both of you most of the time, it only seems fitting I guess.”  
He and Riley laughed at that, it was true enough, but before they could keep teasing Bozer, Desi came over from talking with the bomb squad members, and looking at him then Riley, said, “you guys cut it close back there, I’m really glad that you’re both okay.”

He and Riley smiled at her as they let go of Bozer, and seeming to hesitate for a second, Desi pulled him into a quick but tight hug, one he returned, and after letting go of him, did the same to Riley.  
Desi wasn’t one to show her emotions, it had taken a long time for her to open up even slightly to him after they’d gotten together, and she wasn’t the most physically affectionate person, so she must’ve been really worried. 

Mark, one of the bomb squad members, strolled up to them, and looking at him, said, “I got a glimpse of what remains of that bomb, it was a tricky one. Good job out there.”

Mac laughed, and shaking his head said, “it was Riley and I together, though to be honest, it was mostly her. I, quite literally, wouldn’t be alive right now if she hadn’t been there.”

Riley immediately shook her head.  
“I acted out the plan, but it was Mac who came up with it.”

Chuckling, Bozer said, “you guys have always been a perfect team.”

Mac nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly, and turning to Riley with a smile, said, “yeah, we are.”

**Author's Note:**

> Did I rewatch 4x04 just to study the hug scene at the end? Yes, ofc I did. 
> 
> Also, If you've read my other fics, I don't think you'll be surprised to hear that as I was writing this, I was imagining Desi's reaction looking from the outside in. Would you guys want to read that?


End file.
